CALGARY (July 12, 2018) – Field Law, a western and northern regional business law firm, is pleased to announce the Southern Alberta winners of its Community Fund Program (the Program). Field Law awarded one grand prize and four additional awards to community projects in the Calgary region.

The Program has been supporting community initiatives for the past six years, with more than $400,000 donated to local programs to date. In 2018, the Program will distribute a total of $75,000 to community initiatives, with $30,000 going to each of the Northern and Southern Alberta markets and $15,000 going to the Northwest Territories market. 

Field Law is excited to announce the Brenda Strafford Society’s Community Room Improvements Project as the 2018 Community Fund Program grand prize winner, with additional awards granted to The Mustard Seed, Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society, Soccer Without Boundaries and the Samaritan Club of Calgary.

Winners of the Program are selected by a community judging panel and public voting, with 23,550 votes cast across all three markets in 2018. Of the 80 applications the Program received from charities this year, 44 came from organizations in southern Alberta, with 15,271 of the total votes cast from this region. Awards for the Northern Alberta and Northwest Territories markets will be announced at events later this month. 
 

The Brenda Strafford Society - Community Room Improvements – GRAND PRIZE WINNER – $8,000

For more than 20 years, the Brenda Strafford Society (the Society) has provided clients with resources such as counsellors, child care and support groups. These resources help the healing process from years of abuse, creating an environment that quickly becomes “home” for clients. The Society helps clients to develop the strength and confidence needed to move back into the community and live on their own. 
The Society’s current group room has limited seating options and a dated appearance. The Society plans to use these funds to renovate their group room to create a more inviting and functional space for clients.

The Mustard Seed – SEEDschool – $6,000

SEEDschool, a week-long experiential learning program for children in grades three and higher, allows students to gain first-hand knowledge of the issues of poverty and homelessness by welcoming children to the Mustard Seed facilities. In 2017, the Mustard Seed partnered with Campus Calgary Open Minds to develop this pilot project. The goal of this program is to build sensitivity and awareness of poverty and vulnerable populations among future community members. 

The Mustard Seed is one of the few social service organizations in the world that provides this immersive learning experience. SEEDschool’s focus on social issues and engaged citizenship through a social service agency makes it the first of its kind in this global network. 

Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society: Pet Assist Program – $6,000

Pet Assist helps low income and isolated seniors meet their pet care needs. Pet Assist understands the benefit of pet ownership on seniors’ quality of life, and aims to help pets and seniors stay together for as long as possible. 

Pet Assist’s volunteers and community partners helped to keep almost 50 animals in caring homes in 2017 alone. During this time, volunteers logged nearly 600 hours of helping clients with tasks such as transportation to the vet, basic grooming, dog walking, changing cat litter, and purchasing and delivering food. 

Soccer Without Boundaries: Soccer Camp for Underserved Kids – $6,000

Soccer Without Boundaries (SWB) has been supporting Glenbrook’s low-income housing community for eight years by strengthening the community through sport. The vision of SWB is to develop “natural supports” within members of the community. Services of SWB include a free weekly drop-in soccer club, a subsidized annual soccer camp, and an after-school program offering lessons in reading, art, keyboard and guitar. 

The Program’s contribution will help operate this year’s Soccer Camp for Underserved Kids, a week-long soccer camp for 120 boys and girls. Every child will leave the camp with a soccer ball, jersey and water bottle, as well as the experience of playing against the Calgary Police Service soccer team. Also attending the camp will be highly-skilled coaches and trainers. The camp concludes with the Glenbrook Community Celebration BBQ.

Samaritan Club of Calgary: Bundle Bee Program – $4,000

The Samaritan Club of Calgary is a registered charitable organization that is self-funded by the membership fees of approximately 176 members. This organization helps low-income Calgarians in many different ways, including offering support for food, medication, household necessities and education.

The Program’s contribution will go towards the Samaritan Club’s Bundle Bee program, which supports mothers with newborn children in desperate need of basic baby essentials after giving birth. This includes a “bundle” of items such as sleepers, onesies, diapers, receiving blankets, crib blankets, bath towels, hats and more. 

ABOUT FIELD LAW

Field Law is a western and northern regional business law firm listed as one of the largest in Canada, with offices in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The firm is a proud, strong and independent multi-office regional firm with lawyers dedicated to professional excellence, client service and delivering value. More than 120 lawyers and 160 staff work together to provide a wide variety of legal services to businesses and institutions in corporate and commercial matters, litigation and dispute resolution, labour and employment, insurance, energy, intellectual property, privacy, professional regulatory and medical malpractice issues. Additionally, the firm provides private services to individuals including estate planning services and real estate transactions.  

For media inquiries, please contact:

Connor Doane
NATIONAL Public Relations
Phone: (403) 531-0331
cdoane@national.ca